IT security

Arina · May 2007

I have a question, can someone see what you are doing on the internet? If yes, then how is that possible? If someone knows your datas, ip adress, subnet mask, and others then he can invade your computer? how can I protect myself in that case?

Niels · May 2007

Hi Arina

Yes that is possible. They can use monitoring tools to make screen dumps and keyloggers to tracking down what you have typed and so receiving passwords and other confidential files. If you don't have a firewall or antivirus then some people can steal information or even control your pc. That is also the case if you don't install the latest updates from the windows update site.The only what can happen is that spammers use your computer to send spam. What can happen is that you could get blacklisted.I hope that I didn't scare you.

The essential security software are the following:

antivirus

firewall

antispamfilter

firewall

antispyware

You will find different solutions in the BitDefender software serie. If you buy BitDefender Antivirus Plus version 10 there is already a firewall,antivirus,antispamfilter,antispyware included. Here you will find more information about the products: http://www.bitdefender.com/site/view/comp.html and here : http://www.bitdefender.com/site/Products/showSolutions/1/

Regards

Niels

AndreiASM · May 2007

If someone wants to see what you're doing, it would have to have some sort of Trojan, worm, virus etc. INSIDE your computer which could send data about your computer (or what you're doing) to an attacker. If you have a firewall installed, and an antivurs, you shouldn't worry. Remote-acces trojans can open ports on your computer, making an attaker able to connect to it and give commands, send files, etc. IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY PROTECTION. This is why it is important to have both a firewall and an antivirus.

The only data an attaker could get by knowing your IP address is your ISP, and, eventually, he could make a port scan to see what ports are opened. A firewall can easly stop those attempts. If you're not running a server on your computer, there aren't opened ports (only stealth ports or semi-opened ports, which are protected by the firewall) you don't have any reason to be worried.

It is a little bit more difficult to explain waht a subnet mask is (The subnet mask is the network address plus the bits reserved for identifying the subnetwork. By convention, the bits for the network address are all set to 1, though it would also work if the bits were set exactly as in the network address) . Another possible "attack" is flood-attack. Flooders send big amounts of data to your computer, which can cause internet speed slowdowns. Most of the ISP's (Internet Srevice Providers) have flood-protection inside their gateways/routers, and firewalls cand stop this kind of attacks too.

Al you have to do is keep your antivirus up-to-date!

Andrei

Arina · June 2007

Ok, i understood that if you have a good antivirus like BD 10 then you have protection from hakers. But now let's supose something: someone from the firm that connected me to the internet wants to see what I am doing. I belive that is not legal, but still if the case, can a person from that firm see what i am doing or take control over my computer? If yes, than give me sollutions. .

Niels · June 2007

Hi Arina

If you don't visit harmful sites in conjunction with a BD solution then you are safe for hackers.

The system administrator can monitor what you do. But that isn't always the case. That depend on the security policy that is used on the firm where you work. But mayby they only record which websites you visit but not as hackers would do. Also it could be that you aren't allowed to install software on your work pc.

Regards

Niels

AndreiASM · June 2007

Finding a vulnerable computer and hacking it is the same as finding a house with opened doors and going in it, to see what you can find .

The only way to see what you're doing or to take control over your computer is using an exploit/trojan/worm/virus, which opens a port (or several ports), and listens to incoming connection. That way, if a hacker knows that you have en exploit, he can connect to your computer and send it commands, basicaly, it could send any command the malware was programmed to interpret. It could steal information, control your computer etc. A firewall asks you if he should let a program connect to the internet. You really should get suspicious if a program like Notepad attempts to listen for incoming connections.

That "someone" who connected you to the internet could have installed on your computer this kind of applications, and could have created a rule in the firewall list, that allows them to do their job. Even this way, the antivirus humps into action, because it could detect that malware (if it is in his database).

Just to be sure, perform a deep scan of the system, to get ride of any suspicion.

Arina · June 2007

You didn't understood. I have the internet at home. I was talking about the firm that provides my connection to the internet. I am not sure how this connection it is called, dial-up? I have a telephone that is connected through a modem, and from that modem i have a wire to the computer.

AndreiASM · June 2007

Hi Arina.

I have merged your threads. You don't have to create a new thread for each post. You can reply here.

As I said, not even the guys at your ISP company can't use this kind of exploits to see what you're doing, it is illegal. All they can see is your amount of traffic, eventually what connections you have opened (or where you are connected). They can't acces your computer, they can't steal data about you. On the internet, you exist only as a 32 bit number, your IP address. If you have dial-up connection, it is most probably that your IP address changes each time you connect to the internet.

However, as you described your connection, it is probably a broadband connection (not dial-up).

As is already told you, all you have to do is keep your antivirus up-to-date. However, if you steal have doubts, you could buy a router to add extra security.

Andrei

Arina · June 2007

Multumesc / Thank you Andrei.

AndreiASM · June 2007

Pentru nimic/Anytime!

Andrei

khufu · June 2007

Hi Arina,

Just use a good AV up to date, and a good firewall and learn how to configure it to your needs, and you will be safe.

A hardware firewall, router like Andrei suggested is an extra protection, but you have to configure it properly to have full access to the internet.

I advice you to use a good AV and a firewall, your are safe with those.

Your ISP will not hijack you

wrath.of.achilles · June 2007

Oh belive me there are tools out there that can steal information from pc-s more effective then trojans/viruses w/e but they wouldn't bother to use such high teck tools to steal information from your PC.You ain't got nothing that important like the blue prints for the next generation of stealth fighter jets.Chill so called account user Arina!

Arina · June 2007

Can someone recomand free versions of the antispamfilter, firewall, antispyware that don' t eat to many resurses and they still give you a good protection? I understood that avira is a fine free antivirus, but what of the others?

AndreiASM · June 2007

Hi, Arina.

Visit Free spyware for more information.

As for a free antivirus, I don't know which one gives the best results. I've used BD my entire life, but I think AVG is good as well. You can also visit Free antivirus for more informations/resources about free antivirus software.

Andrei

vladx · June 2007

Hello Arina

If free is what you want then i would recommend Avast Home Edition as AV(because it's almost the same as the paid version) and SuperAntispyware(of course the free version) as AS.; about firewall the best free is Comodo but if you don't visit dangerous sites the XP firewall would be enough and as AntiSpam i would say Mailwasher if you have only one e-mail account.

Niels · June 2007

Hi Arina

I've merged your two topics. Because your second topic goes also about it security.

Antispyware:

superantispyware is very good to detect and remove difficult malware. You don't have realtime protection or automatic updates in the freeware version:

http://downloads2.superantispyware.com/dow...AntiSpyware.exe

avg-antispyware free edition : http://free.grisoft.com/softw/70free/setup...up-7.5.0.50.exe

antispam:

mailwasher free : http://www.mailwasher.net/download/MailWasher_Free_setup.exe

commodo antispam free : http://www.comodoantispam.com/

firewall:

commodo: http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/dow...d_firewall.html

Zonealarm: http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/1025..._337_000_en.exe

Avira the free edition is one of the best if you compare it with other free antiviruses.

Avast is also good : http://www.avast.com/eng/home-registration.php

Regards

Niels